Research Assistant Opportunity

Environmental Decision Support Science Lab

Who we are: Join a dynamic research team working at the interface of science and policy. Our research team works on environmental decision support and indicators, focused on how we can better support environmental and climate decisions and policies. We have developed a vision for an end-to-end system that considers physical, environmental, and societal indicators of climatic change, impacts, vulnerabilities, and responses. We also have multidisciplinary research related to usable science, complex environmental decision-making, and synthesis in support of Federal agency decisions.

Location: The work location is at the University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), located in the Discovery District. The Discovery District UMD shuttle 123 bus stops in the court where ESSIC is located. There is also free parking.

Research Assistant Duties: Depending on the interests of the student, projects can be customized to the interests and marketable skills that would be most beneficial for the student’s career. Potential duties and tasks include: coordination of teams, including scientists and Federal employees; event planning for workshops with leading experts in environmental policy; development of policy memos and presentations; identification and synthesis of climate decision support and indicators literature; development and analysis of indicator surveys and experiments; transcription and deductive coding of expert interviews, and editing and formatting scientific papers and policy documents.

Apply: Students who have worked with our team successfully have landed excellent summer internships and jobs given letters of recommendations and our extensive network within DC and the U.S. Students who are interested in opportunities should review our research and email the required information to indicators@umd.edu which includes: 

1) a resume 

2) one professional reference (name, email address, and phone number), and 

3) an email cover letter. 

Then, schedule a 30-minute phone call within the next 2 weeks with Dr. Kenney via https://kenney.youcanbook.me. For the preferred meeting location, please select the option that begins “Call Dr. Kenney...”. For the purpose, please insert your information using the following template: “Interview for undergraduate/graduate/etc. lab position”. Incomplete submissions or submissions with blatant writing mistakes (e.g., misspelled names, incorrect titles, or grammatical errors) will not be considered and notified with a form email. You must be on-site at the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center for at least 8 hours per week during normal business hours (Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET). There is the opportunity to complete 2, 4-hour blocks in order to fulfill the 8-hour commitment.